<< An ancient terracotta medicine bottle has been found during an excavation at a building site in the center of Bodrum, located between two healthcare facilities.

“This the first known finding of a medicine bottle from the Hellenistic period in ancient Halicarnassus,” said archaeologist Ece Benli Bağcı, referring to the present-day city center. “It has been identified using similar objects known to archaeologists, which were found in Priene [near present-day Söke] and other neighboring ancient city-sites, and bears a stamp identifying the name of the original dispensing pharmacist.”

Bodrum archaeologists plan to conduct research looking for any possible connection between the bottle and Hippocrates’ medicine school, the Asklepion in ancient Kos, the Greek island nearest to Bodrum.

When excavations on a building site revealed deeply buried ancient walls, the Bodrum Museum Directorate stopped the construction work, and two archaeologists from the museum, Bağcı and Bahadır Berkaya, began a rescue excavation that has taken place over the last few weeks.

The archaeologists have found the remains of walls and water pipes as well as five terracotta sarcophagi containing skeleton remains, thus far identified as from the Hellenistic period (330 to 30 B.C.), embedded in walls on the site and lying near a freshwater spring.

The newly revealed spring is surrounded by rocks and shaped blocks on a platform that indicates ancient usage. The spring’s water has remained level since exposure and seems to be fresh.

An archaeological student group and Professor Poul Pederson from the University of Southern Denmark’s Halicarnassus Studies Department visited Bodrum by chance on a week-long student tour and were delighted to be able to see the tombs and structures in situ.

The landowner of the site is reportedly ready to preserve the ancient finds in one corner of the block as part of the new construction.

The future use of the site will be decided by the Muğla Protection of Natural and Cultural Assets Committee. >>